Aides race to correct Biden gaffe on Taiwan
President appears to shift established US policy by pledging to defend the island should China attack
THE White House last night desperately sought to calm the waters after Joe Biden blundered over American policy on Taiwan.
Officials said there was no change in the US stance after the President, in a live television programme, promised to defend the island from Chinese attack.
In the CNN town hall, Mr Biden was asked whether America would come to Taiwan’s defence if China invaded.
He replied: “Yes. We have a commitment to that.”
Mr Biden appeared to be altering Washington’s longtime policy of “strategic ambiguity” with regard to Taiwan.
However, a White House official later said: “The President was not announcing any change in our policy and there is no change in our policy.”
That approach is guided by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, in which Congress required the US to provide Taiwan with weapons for its own defence, but was ambiguous on whether America would intervene militarily.
Washington has never officially said what it would do in the event of conflict.
China claims Taiwan as its territory and has increased military and political pressure in recent weeks, pushing tensions to their highest level in decades.
Pentagon officials believe Taiwan is the likeliest trigger for a major conflict in the coming years.
Mr Biden’s remarks prompted a furious reaction from Beijing.
The US should “act and speak cautiously on the Taiwan issue”, warned Wang Wenbin, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman. “China has no room for compromise on issues involving its core interests.”
Beijing’s military activity is prompting concerns that it may try to assert sovereignty over the island by force, fears heightened by a recent clampdown on the previously semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong.
It is not the first time Mr Biden’s comments have caused confusion over Taiwan, a democracy of 23.5million people.
‘China has no room for compromise on its core interests’
In August, he said the US had a “sacred commitment” to “respond” if anyone invaded its allies, including Taiwan, prompting officials to make clear that the policy had not changed.
The island’s presidential office noted the Biden administration’s “rock solid” support and said Taiwan’s position not to give in to pressure or “rashly advance” remained the same. Relations between Taipei and Beijing are at their worst for more than 40 years, Chiu Kuocheng, the Taiwanese defence minister, said earlier this month, adding that China was capable of mounting a “full scale” invasion by 2025.
In early October, Beijing flew a record 150 warplanes near the island’s airspace – including the nuclear-capable H6 bomber, which would be used to strike in the event of invasion – in a show of force around China’s National Day on Oct 1 and Taiwan’s on Oct 10.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, made clear there had been no change in policy.
She said: “There has been no shift, the President was not announcing any change in our policy, nor has he made a decision to change our policy. There is no change in our policy.”
Asked if Mr Biden’s “unambiguous” comment had been “intentional”, she said: “He’s not intending to convey a change in policy, nor has he made a decision to change our policy.”